A little bit of L.A. in D.C.

Natalie Portman is standing off to the side at the People/Time magazine pre-party on Saturday, looking diminutive and beautiful, but going somewhat unnoticed. She seems excited about her table for dinner that night. "My table is pretty good," she says, "It's Geithner, Gates and Valerie Jarrett. I'm looking forward to that."

This year’s White House Correspondents Association dinner was more celeb-packed than Washington has seen for a long time. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, Forrest Whitaker and Sting were all at the Washington Hilton for the annual mingling of L.A. stars and D.C. wonks. Only this year, whether it was due to the new President or the A-list crowd he drew, there was a bit more spring in everyone’s step.

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The parties preceding the dinner are always well-stocked with stars. The scene everywhere is the same: Hundreds of people, all in black tie, roaming around a basement, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever visiting celebrity is walking by. Passerbys exchange rumors, like “is that Jon Bon Jovi at the Atlantic Media party?”

Minority Whip Eric Cantor is there, mobbed. We hear Owen Wilson will be seated at his dinner table, and ask Cantor, do you have anything to talk to him about?

“I’m just going to call him Drillbit,” he laughs.

Cantor's happy, he says, that his wife was able to catch a glimpse of TomKat. Later, Cantor is overheard telling Arianna Huffington, whose site has been bashing him for days, “I can’t say we enjoy being on your site, but we seem to be on there a lot.”

Barbara Walters is chatting in the Atlantic Media party, and over in the corner is country singer Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly Williams Paisley. The best part of the night, Paisley says, “being in the same room with—”

“—me!” his wife jokingly interjects.

“My wife, yes, and some of the most powerful people in the country.”

His wife is just excited to get out of the house. “I just had a baby three weeks ago," she says, "and I’ve gone to the grocery and here.”

Someone runs up to brag, “I just saw the back of Sting’s head!”

Walking past is Alicia Keys, being dragged by her hand by a friend, and Donatella Versace is hanging out with Jonathan Rhys Meyers. RNC Chair Michael Steele rides the down escalator right into Democratic pundit Donna Brazille’s open arms. They hug and kiss like old friends. Somewhere else in the hotel, people are trampling over Demi Moore’s long dress. Political pundit Craig Crawford asks Jason Bateman a question. The actor, clearly a fan, replies, “Shouldn’t I be asking you a question?

Later inside the dinner, people are handing over their wallets to Warren Buffet to snap shots of him holding it, as Glenn Close walks around by herself. Attorney General Eric Holder turns to someone, and says, “this is the only time I’ve seen you since the beginning of the administration and not in the Situation Room! You look so different!” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke are practically falling over themselves while talking to Natalie Portman.

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We ask Jason Bateman, who's with Will Arnett, is this your first dinner?

“No,” Bateman replies, “We eat dinner all the time. Lunch, too.”

Sting, are you having fun? He sticks his tongue as a good-natured reply. Rumor is, Val Kilmer, who was at Tammy Haddad's brunch,, bailed on the dinner at the last minute. But Stevie Wonder is here, with a murmur of oohs and aahs following him everywhere he goes. Kal Penn is being told that his decision to quit acting and work in the Administration was admirable. Football player Reggie Bush is walking around. As is POTUS body guy Reggie Love.